my favourite 5 blogs & podcasts

It’s currently the holiday season which means I’ve had a whole week-and-a-half off. At first I was pretty ambivalent about the prospect of Christmas, as I’ve been finding good rhythm with my various projects, but I have to admit that it has been bliss to spend some time unwinding at home with my brother, playing Playstation (yup, I still do that) and just lounging around watching stuff (I’ve watched Bird Box and The Stanford Prison Experiment on Netflix in the last couple of evenings, both are great).

I’ve also had the chance to catch up on some of my favourite blogs and podcasts. I’ve followed and listened to a lot of these in recent years, but there’s a handful which serve me to this day that I wanted to share with you.

So, in no particular order, here are my top 5 favourite blogs & podcasts of the moment:

1. LaurenSapala.com Lauren calls herself a writer, writing coach and an INFJ. As a sensitive, intuitive (an ‘NF’ in Myers-Briggs terms) her articles on writing really resonate with me, I’m often reading something she’s written which I can powerfully relate to. She also has 3 books she has self-published, and I am currently reading two of them.

I have gotten so much from Lauren, from being accepting of my non-conventional methods/mindsets when it comes to my writing, through to strategies around how to best use/cope with Twitter! Check out Lauren’s blog here, or read about Lauren.

2. Fizzle Fizzle is an amazing community for folks who want to earn a living independently doing something they care about. I first came across Fizzle & its co-founder Corbett Barr when I was exploring the sort of life I wanted to live and following blogs like LiveYourLegend and ZenHabits. Corbett also has an amazing, free manifesto called 18 months, 2 blogs, six figures.

Just a couple of months ago I re-signed up to Fizzle, where I get access to *so many* awesome courses as I move through this journey (their Roadmap is perfect for someone like me who has trouble getting into action-mode), as well as an amazing community of others *just like me* in a super-supportive environment. I’m not sure where I’d find a group of people like this, trying to create this sort of life and an independent business, anywhere else. It’s why I’m happy to pay the £31 ($39) a month for the privilege. Check out Fizzle, and get a whole free month, right here.

3. ChrisReining.comFormally known as MrEverydayDollar.com, Chris is a millennial from Wisconsin who diligently saved and invested in his 20s and retired before he hit 40. More than that, he’s someone who shared similar values (money = important to spend on the things that give you meaning) and interests (meditation) to me, and is just a genuine, stand-up guy.

If you’re someone – like me – who still needs to work on the whole “money” thing and just doesn’t know where to start, right here is a great place to start. Or, find out more about Chris.

4. WriteWithImpact.comMy favourite writing podcast and blog. Unfortunately I’ve run almost out of episodes to listen to, but have been doing some repeat listening of late, especially as I’ve successfully completed “National Novel Writing Month” for the first time this November gone.

I really love Glenn’s personality and interview style, and he gets some fascinating, varied guests also. Shoutout to my friend Alex who sent this podcast in my direction a couple of years back. You can check out the podcast and the blog over here. You can also find out more about Glenn right here.

5. TheCreativePenn.comAnother writing one, Joanna Penn is also (like Lauren Sapala) an INFJ and is a truly inspiring creative entrepreneur with a bunch of fiction books, non-fictions books, courses and a podcast. She has a wholebunch of podcast episodes and content online, which I’m trying to lean into gently and as it serves me, rather than let it overwhelm me! If you’re a writer of any kind, there’ll probably be something on TheCreativePenn that you’ll find useful, particularly if you want to publish something or otherwise make money off of it. Dive into TheCreativePenn over this way. You can also find out more about Joanna here.

I’d love to now what blogs you’re reading and podcasts you’re listening to also, so go ahead and drop me a suggestion or two in the comments below.